List of films set in New England

• The House of the Seven Gables (1910) – set in Salem, Massachusetts
• The Scarlet Letter (1911)

1920s

• The Sea Beast (1926)
• The Scarlet Letter (1926)
• The Yankee Clipper (1927)

1930s

• Abraham Lincoln (1930)
• Moby Dick (1930)
• A Connecticut Yankee (1931)
• Horse Feathers (1932)
• Doctor Bull (1933)
• Little Women (1933) – set in Concord, Massachusetts
• The Pursuit of Happiness (1934)
• The Scarlet Letter (1934)
• Way Down East (1935)
• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
• Captains Courageous (1937)
• Maid of Salem (1937)
• Nothing Sacred (1937)
• Stella Dallas (1937)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938) – they visit Susan’s aunt in Connecticut
• Mother Carey’s Chickens (1938)
• Dark Victory (1939)
• The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)

1940s

• The House of the Seven Gables (1940) – set in Salem, Massachusetts
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
• Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
• The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942)
• Holiday Inn (1942) – Connecticut
• The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)
• I Married a Witch (1942)
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944)
• The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
• Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
• Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
• Spellbound (1945)
• The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
• Dragonwyck (1946)
• The Spiral Staircase (1946)
• The Stranger (1946)
• The Strange Woman (1946)
• Boomerang (1947)
• Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
• Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
• Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) – Connecticut
• The Babe Ruth Story (1948) – Set in Boston, about the Red Sox and Braves
• Little Women (1949) – set in Concord, Massachusetts
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)

1950s

• Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)
• Mystery Street (1950) – Massachusetts
• The Underworld Story (1950)
• All About Eve (1950)
• Death of a Salesman (1951)
• The Story of Will Rogers (1952)
• Plymouth Adventure (1952) – the Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts
• The Actress (1953) – set in Wollaston, Massachusetts (a neighborhood of the city of Quincy)
• White Christmas (1954) – set in Vermont
• Seven Angry Men (1955)
• All That Heaven Allows (1955)
• Lady and the Tramp (1955)
• The Trouble with Harry (1955)
• Carousel (1956)
• High Society (1956) – Newport, Rhode Island
• Moby Dick (1956)
• Fear Strikes Out (1957) – set in Boston, about the Red Sox
• Johnny Tremain (1957) – set in Boston
• The Last Hurrah (1958) – a mayoral race based on Boston mayor James Michael Curley
• Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) – set in Connecticut
• The Devil’s Disciple (1959) – Websterbridge, New Hampshire
• A Summer Place (1959) – set in fictional Pine Island, Maine

1960s

• The Bramble Bush (1960)
• The City of the Dead (1960)
• House of Usher (1960)
• Death of a Salesman (1961)
• The Parent Trap (1961)
• Return to Peyton Place (1961)
• Lolita (1962)
• Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962) – Connecticut
• The Miracle Worker (1962)
• The Cardinal (1963)
• Donovan’s Reef (1963)
• The Haunted Palace (1963) – fictional New England town of Arkham
• The Haunting (1963)
• My Six Loves (1963)
• Lilith (1964)
• Never Too Late 1965)
• Death of a Salesman (1966)
• Hawaii (1966)
• The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) – Gloucester, Massachusetts
• Tormented (1966)
• Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) – set at Trinity College in Connecticut
• The Shuttered Room (1967)
• Valley of the Dolls (1967) – Anne starts in New England
• The Boston Strangler (1968) – set in Boston
• Charly (1968) – set in Boston
• Death of a Salesman (1968)
• Pretty Poison (1968) – set in western Massachusetts
• Rachel, Rachel (1968) – Boston
• Salesman (1968) – Boston
• The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) – set in Boston
• The Curse of the Living Corpse (1969)
• Silent Night, Lonely Night (1969)

1970s

• Love Story (1970)
• The Out-of-Towners (1970) – set in Boston
• Carnal Knowledge (1971)
• Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
• The Other (1972)
• Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
• The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) – set in Boston
• The Last Detail (1973) – set in Boston
• The Paper Chase (1973)
• The Scarlet Letter (1973)
• Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974) – set in western Massachusetts
• Jaws (1975) – shot mostly on location on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts,  set in fictional Amity, Massachusetts
• The Stepford Wives (1975)
• The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) – set in fictional Wells Harbor, Maine
• Between the Lines (1977) – set in Boston
• Pete’s Dragon (1977)
• Coma (1978) – set in Boston
• Jaws 2 (1978) –shot mostly on location on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts set in fictional Amity, Massachusetts
• Brink’s Job (1979) – The Great Brink’s Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink’s Building at the east corner of Prince St. and Commercial St. in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1950. Today the building is a parking garage located at 600 Commercial Street. set in Boston (shot in north end of Boston Massachusetts)

1980s

• The Children (1980)
• Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)
• A Small Circle of Friends (1980)
• Dead & Buried (1981)
• The Incubus (1981) – fictional New England town of Galen
• On Golden Pond (1981)- filmed at Big & Little Squam Lake in New Hampshire
• The Flight of Dragons (1982)
• Superstition (1982)
• The Verdict (1982)
• The World According to Garp (1982)
• The Bostonians (1983)
• The Dead Zone (1983)
• The Devonsville Terror (1983)
• Reuben, Reuben (1983)
• The Hotel New Hampshire (1984) – New Hampshire
• Clue (1985) – set in a New England mansion
• Death of a Salesman (1985)
• Real Genius (1985) – fictional college similar to MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Re-Animator (1985) – set in fictional Arkham, Massachusetts
• The Sure Thing (1985)
• Highlander (1986) – “the famous duel on Boston Common”
• One Crazy Summer (1986)
• Baby Boom (1987) – set in Vermont
• Flowers in the Attic (1987) – Ipswich MA
• The Devil’s Disciple (1987) – Websterbridge, NH
• The Witches of Eastwick (1987) – set in fictional Eastwick, Rhode Island
• Beetlejuice (1988) – set in fictional Winter River, Connecticut
• Funny Farm (1988)
• Mystic Pizza (1988) – set in Mystic, Connecticut
• The Nest (1988)
• Second Sight (1989) – comedy set in Boston, Massachusetts
• Sweet Hearts Dance (1988)
• Witchery (1988)
• Dead Poets Society (1989) – set at a fictional academy in Vermont
• Field of Dreams (1989) – they visit Fenway Park in Boston
• Glory (1989) – the 54th Massachusetts Infantry form and train in Readville, now a suburb of Boston, and march through Boston
• Pet Sematary (1989)
• War of the Roses (1989)
• Warlock (1989)

1990s

• It (1990)
• Mermaids (1990) – set in the fictional town of Eastport, Massachusetts
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – set in New York City and rural New England
• Once Around (1991) – Renata starts at her parents’ place in New England
• Other People’s Money (1991)
• Run (1991) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• What About Bob? (1991) – set at Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire
• The Babe (1992) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• Far and Away (1992)
• House Sitter (1992)
• Lorenzo’s Oil (1992)
• Mr. Baseball (1992) – set at Fenway Park
• Scent of a Woman (1992) – set at a New England boarding school
• School Ties (1992) – set at a fictional elite Massachusetts boarding school
• Ethan Frome (1993)
• The Firm (1993)
• The Good Son (1993)
• Hocus Pocus (1993) – set in Salem, Massachusetts- (See our videos about Salem)
• Malice (1993) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• The Man Without a Face (1993)
• Needful Things (1993)
• Where the Rivers Flow North (1993)
• Blown Away (1994) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• Dumb & Dumber (1994) – their journey begins in Providence, Rhode Island
• Federal Hill (1994) – set in Providence, Rhode Island
• In the Mouth of Madness (1994) – set in the fictional town of Hobbs End, New Hampshire
• The Inkwell (1994)
• The Last Seduction (1994)
• Little Women (1994) – set based on Louisa May Alcott‘s childhood home in Concord, Massachusetts
• The Next Karate Kid (1994) – set in Brookline, Massachusetts
• Quiz Show (1994) – partly set at Van Doren’s parents’ house in Connecticut
• The Ref (1994) – set in Connecticut
• The River Wild (1994)
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – set in Maine
• With Honors (1994) – set at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Wolf (1994)
• Casper (1995) – set in Friendship, Maine
• Dolores Claiborne (1995)
• Jumanji (1995) – set in the fictional town of Brantford, New Hampshire
• Outbreak (1995) – the monkey’s owner lands at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts
• The Scarlet Letter (1995)
• Celtic Pride (1996) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• The Crucible (1996) – Salem, Massachusetts
• Death of a Salesman (1996)
• Eden (1996)
• Man with a Plan (1996)
• Mrs. Winterbourne (1996)
• The Spitfire Grill (1996)
• Amistad (1997) – State House in Providence
• Good Will Hunting (1997) – set in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts
• The Ice Storm (1997) – set in New Canaan, Connecticut
• Lolita (1997)
• The Matchmaker (1997) – Sean follows Marcy to Boston, Massachusetts
• The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)
• Skeletons (1997)
• That Darn Cat (1997)
• Affliction (1998)
• Animals with the Tollkeeper (1998)
• A Civil Action (1998) – set in Woburn, Massachusetts
• Monument Ave. (1998) – set in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston
• Next Stop Wonderland (1998) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• One True Thing (1998)
• The Parent Trap (1998)
• Practical Magic (1998)
• Safe Men (1998) – set in Providence, Rhode Island
• The Spanish Prisoner (1998)
• Stranger in the Kingdom (1998)
• There’s Something About Mary (1998)
• The Boondock Saints (1999) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• The Cider House Rules (1999) – set in Maine
• Girl, Interrupted (1999) – set in the Boston suburb of Belmont, Massachusetts
• The Iron Giant (1999)
• Lake Placid (1999) – set in Maine
• Message in a Bottle (1999)
• The Out-of-Towners (1999)
• Outside Providence (1999) – set in Providence, Rhode Island
• The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) – Boston, Massachusetts
• A Wake in Providence (1999) – Providence, Rhode Island

2000s

• Almost Famous (2000) – one of the stops is Boston
• Death of a Salesman (2000)
• Me, Myself and Irene (2000) – set in Rhode Island
• The Perfect Storm (2000) – they sail from Gloucester, Massachusetts
• The Skulls (2000) – Yale University in Connecticut
• State and Main (2000)
• The Weight of Water (2000) – set in New Hampshire
• What Lies Beneath (2000) – set in Vermont
• You Can Count on Me (2000) – early scene where he borrows money set in Worcester, Massachusetts
• Blow (2001) – starts in George Jung’s hometown of Weymouth, Massachusetts
• The Blue Diner (2001) – set in Boston
• Harvard Man (2001)
• The Heist (2001) – a robbery at a small Boston airport
• In the Bedroom (2001) – set in mid-coast Maine
• Legally Blonde (2001) – Elle is a student at Harvard
• Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)
• Summer Catch (2001) – Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• Super Troopers (2001)
• Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
• What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001) – filmed (and presumably set) in Boston and elsewhere in MA
• Cabin Fever (2002)
• Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
• The Gray Man (2002)
• Mister Deeds (2002) – set in New Hampshire
• The Skulls II (2002)
• Alex & Emma (2003) – set in Boston
• Anger Management (2003) – they drive to Boston to visit Buddy’s mother
• Behind the Red Door (2003) – set in Boston
• Dreamcatcher (2003)
• Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003)
• The Human Stain (2003)
• Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)
• Mona Lisa Smile (2003) – set at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts
• Mystic River (2003) – set in Boston
• The Recruit (2003) – James starts as a bartender in Boston
• The Skulls III (2003)
• X2 (2003) – they visit Iceman’s parents’ home in Boston
• Irish Eyes (2004)
• Saint Ralph (2004)
• Spartan (2004)
• The Stepford Wives (2004) – set in Connecticut
• Still We Believe: The Boston Red Sox Movie (2004)
• Welcome to Mooseport (2004)
• The Family Stone (2005)
• Fever Pitch (2005)
• Ice Princess (2005) – Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• War of the Worlds (2005) – Ray tries to flee to Boston to meet his ex-wife
• Live Free or Die (2006 film) (2006)
• The Departed (2006) – set in Boston
• Islander (2006) – set in Vinalhaven, Maine
• The Legend of Lucy Keyes (2006)
• Little Children (2006)
• United 93 (2006)
• Vacationland (2006)
• Black Irish (2007)
• Dan in Real Life (2007) – set in Rhode Island
• Everybody Wants to Be Italian (2007) – set in Boston
• The Game Plan (2007)
• Gone Baby Gone (2007) – set in Boston
• The Great Debaters (2007) – they travel to debate at Harvard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 21 (2008) – MIT and Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) – set in Boston
• My Best Friend’s Girl (2008) – set in Boston
• The Women (2008) – Connecticut
• The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)
• Knowing (2009) – set in Lexington, Massachusetts
• The Maiden Heist (2009)
• Surrogates (2009)
• Tell-Tale (2009)
• The Vicious Kind (2009) – set in Norfolk, Connecticut
• The Way We Get By (2009)

2010s

• All Good Things (2010) – set in Vermont and Connecticut
• Conviction (2010) – based in Ayer, Massachusetts
• Edge of Darkness (2010)
• The Fighter (2010) – set in Lowell, Massachusetts
• The Ghost Writer (2010) – set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• Grown Ups (2010)
• Knight and Day (2010) – the action passes through June’s hometown of Boston
• Leap Year (2010) – starts and ends in Boston
• Shutter Island (2010) – set on an island outside Boston
• The Social Network (2010) – set at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• The Town (2010) – set in Charlestown and Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Man on the Train – set somewhere in New England
• Sucker Punch (2011) – set in Brattleboro, Vermont
• Ted (2012) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• Moonrise Kingdom (2012) – set on the fictional New England island of New Penzance
• The Heat (2013) – set in Boston, Massachusetts
• The Way, Way Back (2013) – set in Wareham, Massachusetts
• The Equalizer – set in Somerville, Massachusetts
• Backgammon (2015) – set in Maine
• Ted 2 (2015)
• Irrational Man (2015) – set in the small-town New England college campus of Braylin
• In the Heart of the Sea (2015) – set in Nantucket
• The Witch (2015)
• Spotlight (2015)
• Black Mass (2015)
• The Finest Hours (2016) – set in Chatham, Massachusetts on Cape Cod
• Manchester by the Sea (2016)
• Patriots Day (2016)
• Stronger (2017)
• Summer of Mesa (2020) – set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• The Block Island Sound (2020)

New England Feature Filmography

An initial list of feature films with New England related themes or locations. Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

References

• IMDb
• New England in Feature Films